Hey thanks for the reply. I’m thinking that it is ideal for the bottom portion of the pot to be wet, so I’m leaning towards the media in the net cup for mine. Especially with you noticing better roots that way. Of course there could be many factors…
I have seen someone with an octopot use 3 inch Coco coir pots in the bottom of their net cup to prevent media from going in the res. He claimed that roots grew thru it no problem
Thank you. At the very least, I hope I have not impeded progress… But if I can get did… Remember Marcus Aurelius: impediment to progress becomes progress. What stands in the way, becomes the way.
Be a mandalorian.
<yes, the willow wedding cake is a wrecking ball>
Ps: @420Ghost, what is a coco coir pot? Not picturing it.
If you are talking about your Net Pot physically touching the res water, then yeah, make that happen.
Otherwise, Hmmmm, not so fast…
How much of the Fabric pot, the upper root system, should be wet is an open question IMHO. It seems to be controlled mostly by how full the reservoir is throughout the plant’s life cycle. The higher the rez level, the more roots in the fabric pot. And vicy versy. YMMV, but that’s what I have observed.
OctoChris, the wizard behind OctoPots, didn’t seem to think the rez level mattered all that much. His basic guidelines were to just fill your octo whenever it got low. Watch the level and don’t let it go below level 1. Top it off whenever it’s convenient.
But, He also offered a “High Performance” rez management plan that said that keeping the rez “low” (to me that means water level barely touching the net cup) during transplant & veg would encourage root development in the pot. Ramping up the water level during flowering would build the upper root system, keeping up with bud & resin development and increasing yield. He didn’t emphasize that idea much, and I don’t think he ever did a test grow comparison.
I’ve been playing around with water level as a parameter since it is easy with the autofiller. It seems to make my plants really are bigger and happier if I vary the water level during the grow. Varying the air gap varies the O2 exposure for the roots. Simple, but how to use that to best advantage remains to be seen.
My own hypothesis is that cannabis roots just luv oxygen when they are growing rapidly and the air gap in our octos is really the secret sauce during veg & stretch.
Low level in veg == more roots in the rez. High Level in flower == more roots in the fabric pot. In flower the volume of structural growth slows down and less transpiration and fluid transfer goes on. [Speculating Wildly… I know)
What is optimal? TBD…
Anyway, @420Ghost, as you start up again you should at least consider using Tall, but skinny fabric pots. OctoChris likes them and it Can’t hurt. LoL
-Grouchy 
PS, @SaintAliasKnife, don’t forget to look at your root ball(s) when you harvest. Did your Tall Bags make a difference?
Ya I actually just put in an order for the tall bags before reading thris
I was planning on following the high performance rez management. I remember seeing it mentioned a few times in the micro octopot thread that allowing the rez to get low in-between fillings seemed to benefit the plant. It definitely makes sense that is where it gets it’s needed oxygen. It kinda has me thinking that putting an air stone in the rez on a timer would be helpful, even tho it is not advised by Chris
Also, the Coco coir pots are just little seed starter pots. Same shape and size as a net cup but made entirely out of coco coir
I’m almost convinced enough to try, I love the ammo box controller, and the airline splitter, a stroke of genius, but I’m stuck on the Grow bag itself. Did you just cut a hole In a grow bag for the net pot? And what, just wiggle it down? I don’t understand what is used for wicking material or how it is transferring to the bag, did I miss this?
Greetings @joheimgrohen,
Here’s the whole step-by-step tutorial on MicroOctopots:
I think that will answer all your questions, but drop a line if any of it still doesn’t make sense.
Cheers,
-Grouchy
Wow!
amazing thread!
Wish I had found it sooner since autopots are not available in my country and prohibitively expensive to import.
I played around making my own variations to find a system that works.
Since I do not have the brow SIP pot you guys are using, I DIY’d that on my own too, I just cut a lid on a tub and hosted the plant on top. Since the tub was big enough, I could also put airstones in
SIP has given me amazing results with explosive root growth, I’ll definitely be posting my setup here once I start with my autos
going to be circling back for info and spreading the likes for some time.
giving this a try outdoors, get a good test of what temps the amazon pots can take, if anyone here knows that will fail (too hot) please tell me now lol.
Greetings @shade,
I know people are using them outdoors without problems. Feel free to share your results here if you like.
-Grouchy
If using a wicking material, do you guys think this base could be deployed with 6" Rockwool?
Good question.
I’d think not because part of the “Magic” seems to be the airgap between the netpot and the water in reservoir.
What do you think would be the advantage of Rockwool?
Not sure really, aside from a sterile starting place. If the roots were coming out the bottom before getting setup on the octo, wouldnt an air gap be achievable? More or less just a highdea. If I get around to trying it, I will post up results.
Will it work if I use nylon ropes as wicking material and just punch a couple of holes in the tub underneath and then weave the rope through the tub and pot?
Air gap in octo is by design . Absolutely no aeration in the rez.
Transplant at level 1 or tiny bit above . Keep level constant . Plant gets situated , level raised to 2 . Stay at 2 until mid flower , then to 3 . Dry back every fill . Plants have 3,days easy on dry rez. Big fabric sleeves need dry back in my opinion I do total dry back week 5 of flower , dry for 3 or 4 days . Next fill is when I start my full flower nutes . Level kept too high with smaller plants will soak whole sleeve top to bottom , defeating the entire purpose . Feed from bottom and bottom 1/3 of sleeve .
Hello everyone!
I just had two questions if anyone could chime in that would be great!
What added precautions can be taken to ensure that the float valve doesn’t fail as that’s the single piece of equipment preventing the flooding?
If the method needs to be replicated on a larger scale, how do I fit in a pump in the picture so the tubs get refilled faster?
Since I guess the height of the rez will be limiting factor if the number of pots increase, right?
1.) Flood tray - hydro shops sell 4x4 or 5x5 sized ones for tables or tents. Under bed totes from rubbermaid work well in a 2x4 tent
2.) You would not want to use a pump. Increase irrigation tube diameter first.
It might help if you build a little model system, like I did at the top of this thread, to help you understand the dynamics of the system with a little hands on.
I hope this helps,
-Grouchy
Thanks @GrouchyOldMan and @PatioMat for your replies!
Unfortunately flood trays are not available in my country and importing them is expensive af because of their size! I guess I’ll have to make DIY those.
Regarding the irrigation tube diameter, yeah that’s the answer but finding fittings that snap on like the RO ones do are tough to find.
I have 1/2 inch piping available, any ideas on how to split those to individual pots as the aquarium air valve wont be of much use there I guess
Take a look at drip system irrigation tubing and fittings. That stuff will scale as big as you like. I use that in my orchard with good results.
That’s a half inch pipe right?
You use that like autopots?
I guess when using 1/2 inch piping, the air valve splitter would be replaced using T junctions which are easy to find.
I had tried this way but the water in the pipe started getting warm due to the lights 